Zuni Pueblo

Cathy picked us up in the morning for a trip to the Zuni pueblo village south of Gallup. We stopped first at the visitor center where Mary purchased a photo permit which authorized her to take pictures around the town and in the village except for religious activities of any sort.

Model of Zuni Pueblo

Historic photo of the Pueblo

Loaves of Zuni oven bread

Piki bread

Corn

Present photo of Zuni Mission

San Miguel statue removed from the Old Mission

Upon leaving the Museum and Cultural Center, we took a drive around the Pueblo though you can’t see it except for a quick glimpse of the Mission’s cross and bell tower without taking a tour with a Zuni guide.

Pueblo Traders

 Next we went to Pueblo Traders, one of the local shops which sells mostly native-made jewelry. Much of it is turquoise and silver like much native jewlery. We found several items we would have taken home except for the price. 

Painting of the side of Pueblo Traders

Other images on Pueblo Traders

A:shiwi A:wan Museum & Cultural Center

 From there we went to the A:shiwi A:wan Museum & Cultural Center. We weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside the museum but spent some time going through the exhibits of Zuni history and culture. The featured exhibit was The Zuni Day School Experience documenting historic school life for Zuni children. The center is dedicated to serving the community with programs and exhibits that help reflect on the past and are relevant to current and future interests. 

Nearby mesa

Close-up of unique rock

We drove from there over to the Paywa’s Zuni Bakery for some bread. After buying a loaf (that’s a pretty loose description) we went out back to tour the oven. It is like a dome of adobe that the baker first builds a fire in. Once the dome is hot, the ashes are removed and the bread is placed inside. The residual heat in the brick from the fire would bake the bread. They were in the process of removing the freshly baked loaves from the oven when we showed up. It was very interesting and smelled fantastic!

Zuni Bread bakery entrance

Removing loaves from the oven

Gathering the loaves

Loaves in the oven

We then headed back toward Gallup on the way to Window Rock.

Colorful rock on the road back to Gallup

More roadside colors